The Big Heat

The Big Heat (1953) is Fritz Lang's hard-edged film noir, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Homicide detective Dave Bannion picks at the suspicious suicide of a fellow cop and runs straight into a wall of silence.

The deeper Bannion (Glenn Ford) digs, the clearer it gets: the whole town is owned by a crime syndicate, and the trail leads to boss Mike Lagana. When the mob strikes at the person closest to him, the by-the-book cop snaps and turns into a one-man wrecking crew. Across from him is Debby (Gloria Grahame), girlfriend of the vicious Vince Stone, played by a young Lee Marvin. One scene involving a pot of scalding coffee became notorious for its brutality.

Lang built a lean, angry picture about corruption, where the line between lawman and killer almost vanishes. Ninety minutes, no fat, with his trademark black-and-white shadow work. Film schools still pull it apart, and directors keep quoting it. Stream The Big Heat (1953) online on iFILM.